12 Times Hermione and Sirius Fell In Love
by 3cheersforidiots
Summary: Exactly what it seems. A series of 12 Sirius/Hermione related one-shots (might be more), though one by one they're unrelated, and not all of them might be romantic either. Rated M from 7th chapter and on for suggestive themes.
1. (Epi)Prologue

**A/N: The title might be misleading. I don't know how far I'm going with the romance part of this ship, to be honest (and it might be more than 12, depends really), since I'm doing this based on prompts I'm given, but I'll try :) Also, this is supposed to be a series of non-related one-shots (though one or two might relate later on), and I have a feeling that most of them is just going to be a simple Alive!Sirius AU.**

 **The If You Dare Challenge: 505 (tears – as word prompt)**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Flying Assignment #1 (participating with Sirius/Hermione) – Write about the beginning of the relationship. Extra prompt: [plot] a funeral (though I continued on the thought and mentioned more funerals)**

 **Enjoi!**

 _The end always gives a beginning to something else._

The war was over. The Dark Lord was defeated. The wizarding world was free.

But nothing comes without a price, and this time, the cost was the lives of many. Talented and promising witches and wizards fell through the years, leaving behind a hole in the hearts of their beloved. Their absence would taint the world darker, even after the Light Side won.

The weather on the 22nd of May seemed to have heard the wishes of those mourning, and loyal to what was standardized in Great Britain, it was raining with huge drops of water, falling like teardrops onto the umbrellas of the people walking down the streets.

It was fitting for the couple of magical folks, who were quietly strolling towards a cemetery of a little town in southern Scotland, all dressed in the black in honor of the deceased.

At the funeral, two people, a man and a woman were standing next to each other, looking into the nothingness in front of them, not listening to the speeches of their acquaintances and friends. They have heard them before. They knew they were going to say the same things over and over again.

 _He was a great friend and an even greater mentor for most of us, he would be remembered as a great wizard…_

 _She fought vehemently even at the darkest time and her cheeriness always brought light into the darkness. She would be remembered as a great witch…_

But none of them really understood. It wasn't the words which preserved their memory, and the praise wasn't going to get them back. They wouldn't be remembered through easily forgotten words, no. It always came from within.

The man, who looked to be in his late 30s, felt tears prickle his eyes. He didn't like to cry, he had done it too many times over the last few years, but he couldn't stop it. As it goes, you let the first drop fall, more will come.

The young woman, who was nearing 20 years of age, glanced at the man standing beside her. She knew she couldn't possibly understand what he was going through, even though she lost someone important as well. _He lost his best friend._ All she could do is stand beside him and help him through the sadness.

She couldn't remember how did her hand find his. All she knew is that their fingers clutched the other's, not wanting to let go. She rested her head on his shoulder. She meant it as comfort. And he realized he wasn't alone anymore, he never was. Not even in the war.

And she knew they wouldn't be alone anymore, either. She wouldn't let it happen.

From that point, they attended every funeral together, holding onto each other's hands, her head always resting on his shoulder, not listening to the speeches given. Because they were all the same, and they stayed all the same, every single time.

Though these things didn't change, the end once again gave a beginning to something new.

 **Hope you enjoyed, reviews are always appreciated and cherished!**


	2. Pets and Not Pets

**A/N: In response to the Guest review I got: Thanks for the review! (If you even find this one again, I hope you do)**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry: Flying Extra Credit #1 /Assignment #2 – Write about an argument. (prompt used: [creature] a hippogriff, extra prompt: [word] ridiculous, (dialogue) "Don't give me that look."/"Why?"/"You and I both know what happens when you give me that look and now is not the time.")**

 **The If You Dare Challenge: 420 (problematic)**

 **Gringotts Prompt Bank:**

 **Words Instead of Said: corrected, confirmed, pointed out, told, smiled**

 **Words instead of Walk: shuffled, traveled**

 **Family/Friends Vocabulary: fiancé/fiancée, partner**

 **Enjoi!**

* * *

"This is a ridiculous idea; I hope you know that." said Hermione with crossed arms, quirking an eyebrow at her fiancé. "You're most definitely _not_ getting another hippogriff. Not while I'm living under this roof, anyway."

"Then you want Buckbeak to live the remainder of his life alone? You know, that's not fair. I mean, you were the one who always complained about magical creatures not having any rights." retorted Sirius with a questioning glance.

"This is absolutely not about that. I already told you several times that he needs to be free, and not living on our _freaking roof!_ " she hissed. "We have no space for one hippogriff in the house, let alone two. There's literally no way they would be happy here, in the middle of London!"

"There is enough space, mind you. This place is huge, after all. And I've been taking care of Beaky for years now, I might now how to deal with these creatures, don't you think?"

"That's not my point. Hippogriffs need to be in nature, they need natural food, not whatever cans of meat you get them! They're definitely not some pets, if you really want one, you could just get a cat or whatever." Then she corrected herself when she saw the look on his face. "Or a dog, I really couldn't care less. But not a hippogriff, for Merlin's sake. Speaking of which, I have told you that Hagrid could take care of him too, and you could visit Buckbeak any time."

"Do you not trust me enough to take care of some hippogriffs?"

"This is not about that either, I know you're very well capable of handling them, and I know that for a long time he was the closest you could find of a friend, I really do, but do you really want to have your future children getting bitten by a hippogriff? You know that these creatures can be very dangerous if they aren't treated well enough." Sirius seemed to be thinking for a few moments, probably considering his options, before answering.

"Look, you mentioned a few weeks ago that you thought Buckbeak was sad, and you also said that you think it was because he was lonely, since he hasn't gotten many opportunities to interact with others from his species. So, I thought the next logical step would be to get a partner for him. I've been on this topic for days now. I even went to a professional breeder to ask about buying another hippogriff." the man tried to explain, with mildly wild hand gestures accompanying his words.

"That's nice of you, it really is, but you may notice that it's not what I meant either. What I was trying to imply is that we should let him go and find friends on his own. You know very well that these creatures are strongly independent, and they generally don't need aid with socializing. You also do know how problematic it is to keep them." Hermione answered with a sigh.

"Well, that might be a bit late to say." he said, seeming a tad bit reluctant. The woman gave him a perplexed look.

"Don't tell me you…" she started, and waited with the rest of her sentence until she confirmed her suspicions with glancing at the man's facial features. "Don't you dare tell me you bought a hippogriff without my consent? Where are they?" she said almost frantically.

"Okay, I won't tell you I did, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't, so don't be surprised if you find them on the roof." Sirius replied with a slight sarcastic edge to his tone. His fiancée simply stormed off in the direction of the staircase to check out if he really did buy a female hippogriff just because his own damn intuition told him to do so.

No, she wasn't surprised to see two of the mentioned creatures when she stepped out of the little metal door which separated the staircase from the balcony. There was another hippogriff there, and Buckbeak seemed to steal a glance at her from time to time, with mild interest and a bit of suspicion. Hermione just rolled her eyes, and immediately traveled back in the house. If these two didn't rip each other into pieces by now, they could manage to stay put for a while longer, anyway.

When she entered the kitchen again, she shuffled towards the nearest chair she could find, and plopped down onto it.

"Okay. What do you plan on doing now?" she looked up and asked from the man, who was still leaning on the kitchen counter, now looking at her with perked up eyebrows.

"Keeping hippogriffs as pets?" he asked hopefully.

"No. That's the one thing we're not doing." Hermione pointed out. "Some other alternative? And no, don't give me that look."

"Why?"

"Both you and I know what happens when you give me that look, and now is not the time." she retorted. "You can't just turn every single one of our misunderstandings to your side by pity sex. That is one thing we're also not doing."

"Ah, shit. Maybe next time." Sirius exclaimed. "Then what do you want me to do?"

"I just want you to have a normal conversation with me, like two adults. Can we do that?" she quirked her eyebrows at him.

"Yeah. We can." he answered. "Look, I'm sorry for not talking with you about this before acting. I can't promise you I'm not going to do it next time, you know me, and you also know I probably will, but I am actually sorry. Is that okay?"

"Yeah. And I'm sorry for freaking out on you for no reason." she told him, then she corrected again after a few moments. "Well, I actually did have a reason to freak out, because there's a freaking hippogriff on our house. Not one, two!" she couldn't help but let out a laugh at the absurdity of the thought. "But I'm sorry too. I might have learned a few bad things from Ron through the years." she smiled.

"You did; I can attest to that." Sirius grinned back at her. "Now, you mentioned something about pity sex a couple of minutes ago. What do you think of commencing something on that matter?" the witch just gave him a weary look.

"Not now. Not until we do something about those things on the balcony."

* * *

 **Reviews are always appreciated and cherished, hope you enjoyed!**


	3. The Question

**A/N: Bit of spoiler: I just couldn't get myself to write an unhappy ending for this pairing, for this task specifically, so I took the alternative route :D**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry** : Flying Assignment #3 – Write about having problems with the speed of the relationship. (extra prompt used: [location] Hogsmeade)

 **The If You Dare Challenge:** 118 (silence)

 **Gringotts:**

Words Instead of Said: remarked

Verbs: am, say, walk, were, take, state, said, told, would, was, wait, did, marry, gave, burst, are, met, grin, face, assure, had, hit

Adjectives: small, clever, witty

HP Locations: The Shrieking Shack

Pairings: Hermione/Sirius

 **Enjoi!**

* * *

"Why did you say no?" asked a very frustrated Ginny Weasley from Hermione, while the two were walking down on the main street of Hogsmeade. They were currently on a shopping trip, and the younger woman insisted that they take a look at their former school.

"I didn't say no." the frizzy-haired witch stated. "I just said I needed time to think about it."

"So… You practically rejected him." the redhead concluded. "You see; people only say they need time to think about a bloody _proposal_ if they want to say no in a subtle way!"

"Ginny. I talked about this with Sirius, okay?" Hermione sighed. "I told him it wasn't because I wouldn't want to marry him _eventually_ , but because I don't feel like I'm ready for this kind of commitment. I'm still only in my early twenties, and I need to focus on my career. When you marry someone, you basically say that you're ready to settle down, have a family, and all those kinds of things." she sighed. "And I don't think I want to have kids yet."

"But 'Mione, you can't wait forever." Ginny insisted. "And I'm not saying that because I don't believe you. Look, Sirius is getting older day the day, and I think he just wants to make sure you won't leave him because of that." she remarked. "To be honest, I can't really think of him as the big-family-kind-of-man anyway."

"I guess you're right." Hermione bit her lip before she turned to face her best friend. "Do you think I made the wrong decision?"

"It's pretty rude to say yes, but yes. You totally did." Ginny nodded.

"Do you think he'll forgive me?" she asked uncertainly. "I mean, if I say I thought it through and then I accept his proposal."

"I don't really know how that works. I've never been engaged before." the redhead shrugged. "But hey, can I advise you something?" when Hermione gave a curt nod with her head, she continued. "Do it, but do it only if you're a hundred percent sure. He gave you time for a reason."

"Thank you, Ginny." Hermione gave her a small smile. "Oh, look, here we are."

"The Shrieking Shack? Really?" Ginny burst out laughing. "That's pretty lame."

"I think it was romantic." Hermione pointed out. "I mean, this is the place where we first met."

"Yeah, when you were fourteen, and he was supposed to be a convicted murderer." she noted. "This place wouldn't be on the top of my "where-to-get-engaged spots" list, if I were you." Hermione couldn't help but giggle at that.

"Maybe you wouldn't like it." she said finally. "But for me, it couldn't have been more perfect."

"Oh, I'm absolutely sure of that." Ginny grinned. "So, how did it happen?"

* * *

 _The pair was walking towards the old, but still persistent building in the outskirts of Hogsmeade village. It was late in the afternoon, and the sky had turned from light blue to various shades of pinks and oranges. Hermione thought it looked astonishing._

" _Sirius, are you nervous?" she asked the man, who was holding her hand. "Your hands are shaking."_

" _Not at all." he grinned down at her. "Have you ever seen me being nervous?"_

" _Yes, I have." the woman laughed. "And I know precisely how you look when you are."_

" _So, do you think I am?" he sent her his well-known wolfish grin once again._

" _You definitely are." she nodded. "But I don't know why. Is something wrong?" she asked worriedly._

" _Everything's perfect, trust me." came the answer. "I have something to show you."_

" _Oh, and what would that be?" she asked._

" _Come on, we're almost there." he assured her as he took Hermione's hand and led the way._

 _A few minutes later, the two of them were standing in a room, which seemed like nobody had used it for ages. The distemper on the walls was worn down, every window was broken, and every piece of furniture had layers and layers of dust on top of it. A light breeze was coming through the cracks, which cooled down the place considerably._

 _Though Hermione didn't care much about it, as she was overwhelmed by her memories of the Shack._

" _Is this the room where I met you in third year?" she turned to face the man, who was leaning against the doorframe._

" _Yeah, it is." he confirmed. "I never thanked you for saving us from Moony that night."_

" _You did. At least a couple of times." she pointed out. "And I didn't do much. It was Harry, who did most of the work."_

" _Oh, come on, if you hadn't taken up so many classes, we wouldn't be standing here. I owe you a lot of things, 'Mione." Sirius admitted._

" _And you can't help but tell me that every single time." she grinned, then continued after a few moments of silence. "I like this place, actually. It makes me feel nostalgic, and I'm not even that old!"_

" _I thought it would." he stepped closer to the woman, before quickly pecking her on the lips. "I love you."_

" _I love you too." she said with a bright smile plastered over her face. "So, what is this surprise thing you were talking about earlier?"_

" _Yeah, that." Sirius seemed to be searching for something in his pockets for a few moments before he pulled out a small box. "Hermione, I know this might be a bit early, and it's okay if you don't want to answer straight away, because this whole thing might be frightening for you. But, I just want to tell you that soon after we got together, I realized that you're the only woman I'd ever need. You're clever, witty, you're a good company, and you're gorgeous. So, Hermione Jean Granger, will you marry me?"_

* * *

These moments were running through Hermione's mind as she practically kicked open the entrance to 12 Grimmauld Place.

It had been a few days since Hermione's talk with Ginny, and after almost a week of procrastinating, she decided. In retrospect, it all seemed so obvious, and she couldn't help but curse herself for not answering earlier.

She burst through the hallways leading to the kitchen, where she knew Sirius would probably be, as it was only 8 o'clock in the morning. Fortunately, as soon as she stepped inside the room, she was met by none other than Sirius Black himself.

"Morning, Hermione." he greeted her. "May I ask what brought you here this early?"

"Yes." she choked out.

"Nice, because I just asked. So, can you tell me why are you here now?" he seemed to ignore the double meaning in her words completely.

"Yes." she repeated. "I'll gladly marry you, Sirius."

"Oh, that." the realization seemed to hit him with full force. After a few moments of shocked silence, his lips curled in a huge smile as he hugged the witch. "I don't even know what to say right now. You always seem to render me speechless." Hermione simply laughed.

"I don't think you need words right now." she said as she pressed her lips against his.

* * *

 **I honestly have no idea how this turned out. But as you all know, reviews are always appreciated and cherished, and I hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Tick-Tock

**Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry:** Flying Assignment #4 – Write about a serious problem in the relationship. (extra prompt used: [dialogue] "I'm sorry for everything I've done, [word] pretend)

 **The Restricted Section:** 43\. No time hopping.

 **The If You Dare Challenge** : #503 (night)

 _ **Gringotts:**_

 **Words Instead of Said:** croaked

 **Homographs** : tear

 **Homophones** : I, it's, hole, knew, night

 **Verbs:** occupy, shook, conclude, add, shut, trust, fix, follow

 **Compound Words** : absentminded, chestnut, herself, living room, without

 **Nouns** : embers, background, nightmare, glint, beat, candle, agreement, control, depression

 **Adjectives** : scattered, notorious, possible

* * *

The room was dimly lit by the dying embers in the fireplace and a few candles were scattered around the place. In the background, a clock was ticking slowly, still rhythmically, otherwise everything was silent.

Two people occupied the living room, with their breath not loud enough to break the deafening silence. For a moment, everything went still, and they felt like the Earth suddenly stopped moving.

The man was sitting beside a wooden table. Streaks of his long, black hair fell into his face as he looked out through the nearby window. In his hand, he was holding a bottle of Scottish whiskey, while his other hand was limping by his side. From time to time, he would take a sip before going back to gazing at the abandoned street outside.

On the couch laid a woman. Her soft, chestnut curls sprawled in every possible direction, while her arms sat next to her body. Her eyes were locked on the ceiling, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Apparently, she was thinking about something, even though she herself didn't know what about.

Everything felt peaceful for a brief period of time. Neither of them moved, and it all felt like a picture painted by a muggle artist. Then the woman broke the silence with a few stuttered words.

"We can't live like this anymore." she said, her lips barely moving. The man blinked a few times before nodding slowly. The woman couldn't see him, still, she knew he non-verbally agreed with her, so she continued. "They will never go away, will they? The nightmares, I mean."

The man now shook his head, then took another gulp from the drink. He didn't trust his voice enough to speak up.

Then the clock on the wall ticked another few beats.

"Thought so." the woman sighed, her words still barely louder than a whisper. "I think we have a problem; don't you think?"

The man stiffened upon hearing those words. In those few seconds, he was alert, the once notorious glint in his grey eyes had returned once again before he slumped back to dullness again, realizing the meaning of these words. _They did have some problems._

But he wouldn't say anything yet. Instead, he just nodded absentmindedly, then sipped from his bottle of alcohol.

"You know; we all have them." the woman started again. "I still have them too. It's not only you." The man still seemed like he didn't even notice what she had said, but the woman knew he did. She knew he was listening, and she knew he heard what she said. She knew him like no other person did. "This is depressing." she concluded. The man turned his gaze onto her before nodding again. She was right. It was depressing.

Then the clock seemed to tick a little faster.

"I don't want to pretend I'm happy." the woman exclaimed. "I want to be happy. Don't you?"

The man took a deep sigh before he nodded for the fourth time that night.

"We should do something about this." she went on. She felt her breathing as it got heavier and heavier, like she was suffocating. Tears prickled her eyes, but she caught herself before breaking. She was going to be the stronger one this time. She wasn't going to let the darkness pull her back into the hole of depression. She wanted to get out, and she wanted him to get out, she wanted him to see the light once again, as well. "What do you think?"

A few moments of silence had passed before the man opened his mouth to say something, but before a sound could have left his lips, he shut it back. He did this for a few times before being able to croak out a verbal response.

"I don't know." he rasped. He wanted to add something else too, but he thought the better of it. He still didn't trust his voice enough.

Then the ticking of the clock got louder and louder in the silence that followed.

"Why is it always the two of us?" the woman asked from no one in particular. "Why do we still suffer from it? And others why don't?"

"I don't know." came the answer again. This time, the man's voice sounded even sadder than before. The woman shut her eyelids for a moment, before gaining control over herself again.

"We need help." she stated. The man stared down at his hands and the whiskey in front of him, then he nodded once again. "I'm going to Floo Harry tomorrow, okay?" she didn't expect any answer. She didn't get any either, but she knew they had come to a silent agreement. "You should throw that bottle away." she noted, before placing her foot down on the floor. She slowly rose from her seat, and took a few steps in the direction of the entrance. "Drinking won't help. I'll be in our room. Don't expect me to be asleep when you come up, you know I can't do it without you." and with that, she creaked the door open, then shut it after she left the room.

The man fixed his gaze on the bottle once again, before taking one last swig. Or, rather, he would have, but only a few drops were left in the bottle, so he just placed the whisky back on the table.

His eyes then wandered to the door, which the woman closed a few moments before. He shut his eyes for a moment, before murmuring a few words to himself.

"I'm sorry for everything that I've done."

Then the ticking of the clock ceased to exist.


	5. Sometimes We All Need Help

**A/N: Idk what kind of warnings should I put here, but um… Implied attempted sexual assault?**

 **Also, (Ugh, why do I feel like I need to explain my stories?) Sirius goes to Hogwarts with the** **Golden Trio AU (because the reversed version is a bit overused, and I'm better with Golden Trio era anyway). (To be honest, I wanted to do a High School AU of some kind, but then I thought the better of it. Maybe some other time.)**

 **Also, beta love: Hundreds of virtual cookies to DelusionalDoll (Jasmin) for checking out my writing :)**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry** : Flying Assignment #5 - Beater: Someone who is awfully protective of their friends and family and don't mind getting in trouble to show it. They aren't necessarily violent but people will eventually be scared to anger them. (extra prompt used: (plot) someone bullying a member of your pairing)

 **The If You Dare Challenge** : 677 (smirk)

 _ **Gringotts:**_

 **Once Upon a Time Prompts** : "I'm not afraid of you."/" But you really, really should be."

 **Words Instead of Said** : reiterated, breathed

 **Compound Words** : myself, within, paper bag, sideline, gentlemen, hallway, bathroom

 **HP Locations** : fifth floor corridor

 **Homographs** : elaborate

 **Homophones** : two, waist

 **Verbs:** reply, roam, glare, scare, aim, smirk, frame, chime, fool, match, want, dock, escape, execute, kick, groan, swish, dodge, tower, hover, prevent, wink. clutch, rescue, barge, abuse

 **Adjectives** : fifth, tall, slim, pale, dim, nasty, steady, determined, smug, all, PM, frozen, foolish, certain, unconscious, favourite, exact, off

 **Nouns** : hesitation, sixteen, bark, bite, shame, shock, curfew, distance

~oOo~

It was well into the night, and nobody roamed the halls of Hogwarts aside from the prefects, who were still doing their past-curfew rounds. That was, except for the fifth floor corridor, where a group of three students, looking to be around sixteen years of age were standing, one of them pressed against the wall, glaring at the other two.

"Oh, look, the little Mudblood is trying to scare us," smirked one of the boys, lazily aiming his wand at the bushy-haired Gryffindor in front of him. He had a tall but slim build, his dark bangs framing his rather pale face. If it wasn't for the scowl on his and his companion's face, Hermione would've thought he didn't look half bad either. Such a shame he – much like most of the Slytherin House – was an arsehole.

"If I was you, I'd keep myself far away from the likes of us. That is, if you don't want to get hurt," chimed in the other boy. The witch couldn't quite make his face out in the dim light, but his tanned skin matched with his low voice couldn't fool Hermione. She knew exactly who she was facing, and it didn't bother her a bit.

"I'm not afraid of you," she spat back without any hesitation.

"But you really, really should be," replied the first boy. "I could do pretty nasty things with you, if I wanted to."

"You're all bark and no bite, Nott. You as well, Zabini. Now, how many House Points do you want me to dock for being out after curfew?" Hermione retorted, keeping her voice as steady and determined as she could.

"Aw, look, now the Perfect Prefect Mudblood thinks she's better than us, since she can take away house points. How cute," Theo said with a fake smile. "What a shame you can't do a thing to us. You don't have your wand to defend yourself with," he motioned at Blaise, who held the vine wood wand with a smug expression.

"As I said, you two are all bark and no bite," Hermione reiterated. "It's not me, it's you who are afraid."

"Of what?" Nott inquired. "Do you think detention scares me? I'm not like you, Granger."

"I know that rather well, thank you very much," Hermione retorted. "What's your purpose for keeping me here?"

"Oh, not much," Theo said. "Though I'm planning on having a bit of fun." With that, he stepped closer to the girl, well into her personal space. He dug his wand in the girl's neck, to which she yelped in surprise.

It hurt a bit, but it was something she could deal with, so it wasn't surprising, more like, merely annoying. What did surprise her though was the hand Nott placed on her waist to bring her closer.

"Now, be a good girl and you won't get hurt," he continued.

The cogwheels in Hermione's head were turning rapidly. She didn't expect the Slytherins to actually be aggressive, but now that it turned out differently, she had to find a way to escape, as quickly as she could.

And so, when the very first thought came into her mind, she executed it without thinking and kicked Theo in the groin with her knees.

The boy groaned in pain and let her go, but the moment she started running, Blaise swished his wand and casted a quick _Petrificus Totalus_ at her. She tried to dodge the spell and move as fast as she could, but it was too late, and not a moment later, she laid on the ground, her body frozen.

 _Dammit_ , she thought.

A moment later, she saw Zabini as he towered over her with a nasty grin.

"It was foolish of you," he said, "to think that you could escape us."

If she could, she would've gritted her teeth upon hearing that, but in her position, she couldn't do much. The only thing she could do was hoping that someone would turn up and save her. But what were the chances of that occurring? It was pretty much a lost cause.

Or so she thought.

Zabini was already hovering over her with his usual smug smirk when she heard somebody shout _Impedimenta_ from the far end of the corridor. The spell knocked the wind out of the Slytherin boy, and he immediately landed on the ground with a loud thud.

She also heard her saviour cast a quick _Incarcerous_ at Nott, who had been trying to stand up before the ropes tied him up. Hermione really wanted to turn her head to see who just saved her, but the full body-bind she was still in prevented her from doing so.

It was only when she heard him murmuring a quick _Finite_ on her that she looked over her shoulder, and her eyes widened in shock.

"Sirius?" she asked the boy, who had his wand in one hand, and a suspicious-looking paper bag in the other.

"That would be me, yeah," he replied. "You know, I'd never let these gits hurt you. And I thought you might need a bit of help here," he winked at the girl. "Now, if you excuse me, I still need to kick a certain Slytherin's arse. Oi, Zabini! Want me to hex you into next Sunday?" he shouted at the boy, who was clutching the back of his head, while pointing his own wand at Sirius.

"Looks like the Prince Not-So-Charming has come to rescue his damsel," Blaise sneered. "Tell you what, Black, if you leave within ten seconds, I'll leave your blood-traitor arse alone."

"Afraid of facing me?" Sirius smirked. "Why, I'm flattered."

"Not at all," Zabini retorted. "But if you really want to, then… _Crucio!_ "

" _Obstructo!_ _"_ the Gryffindor shouted, blocking the curse.

All the while, Hermione had stood up and tried to search for her wand. It was only about a minute or so later that she found it, and when she did, she immediately averted it at the Slytherin while muttering a quick _Expelliarmus._ Zabini's wand then fell out of his hand at the exact same moment when Sirius' _Stupefy_ hit him, and so, the boy crumpled onto the ground again, though this time, he was unconscious for good.

"Thanks," Hermione breathed.

"Everything for my favourite know-it-all. I can't let you down, as the unofficial fourth member of the Golden Trio," he grinned back.

"Oh, by the way, Sirius, what's in that bag?" Hermione pointed at the paper bag Sirius was clutching in his non-dominant hand.

"Well…" he started, but was cut off by another voice coming from the other end of the hall.

"Why am I not surprised to find you here, Mr Black?" asked a very tired-looking Professor McGonagall. "What in Merlin's name happened here? Two minutes ago, Professor Flitwick came barging in my office, claiming that he heard loud thumps coming from the fifth floor corridor, and saying that he suspected it might have something to do with Miss Granger's prefect duties. And what do I find here? Two Slytherin students, one of them tied up, the other one on the floor, accompanied by Miss Granger and Mr Black, both with wands out. Care to elaborate?"

"Professor, it wasn't…" Hermione started, but Sirius quickly cut her off.

"They were bullying her! Of course I'd defend her instead of just watching from the sideline!" he explained with wild gestures. "Even if it means I have to duel with a goddamn snake."

"Mr Black, I think we have already talked about properly addressing your peers, and I do not wish to deduct points for that again. Is what Mr Black said true, Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked from the girl, her voice laced with a mixture of suspicion and worry. Hermione didn't have the energy to answer verbally, so she just nodded absentmindedly. "Well then. 50 points each from Slytherin for abusing another student, another 30 from Gryffindor, since Mr Black was out after curfew without any plausible reason, and 20 point to Gryffindor as well, for standing up for Miss Granger."

"No detention?" Sirius asked hopefully.

"Mr Black, you're still serving your latest one for detonating a dungbomb in Professor Binns' classroom. And as for the two other gentlemen, Mr Nott, when your housemate wakes up, please tell him that the two of you will serve a month's worth with me, and that you are to report in my office, tomorrow, strictly at 8 PM," McGonagall told them, and Theo simply nodded with wide-eyes. It seemed he was a bit shocked from the events, and one thing was certain for him. He would not try to set the two Gryffindors off again. "And may I ask what is in that bag, Mr Black?"

"Well, it's…" Sirius started, but then, a loud _boom_ was heard in the distance coming from the Prefects' bathroom on the hallway. "It's a long story. And one you probably wouldn't want to hear."

"I do not indeed," the Professor shook her head in disapproval, then sighed. "But it seems like I'll have to."


	6. Letters From No One

**A/N: I don't know. I have no idea how this turned out. I just…had this idea, but then I don't know if it was in character enough. I don't know. *inwardly screams in despair***

 **Beta love: Huge thanks and virtual cookies to Screaming Faeries for betaing :)**

 **Word count: 785**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry** : Flying Assignment #6 - You have your friends, your teammates, and you also have your opponents. Your opponents will be aiming to hurt you from the get go and we should have this shown by incorporating another member into the relationship that is causing problems. This can be someone having an affair, someone trying to get your pairing to have an affair or both of your pairing cheating on the other. (extra prompt used: (object) a quill)

* * *

"You know, I've seen those letters," came a voice from behind Hermione. She was currently sitting in the library, leaning over a rather decrepit-looking book about Ancient Runes, and was holding a fancy-looking quill in her hand, which had ink dripping from its tip, creating a blotch on the parchment it was hovering over.

She spun around in her seat when she heard the voice, dropping the quill and the book on the table with a loud thud. In the entrance stood Sirius, her fiancé of three months, with his arms crossed and his eyes slightly narrowed, which was rather uncharacteristic of him.

"Which letters?" she inquired, locking her gaze on the man.

"You probably _know_ which ones I'm talking about," he pointed out. Hermione furrowed her eyebrows for a moment in concentration, before slowly shaking her head, still looking slightly puzzled.

"No, this time, I actually have no idea which letters you're talking about," she shook her head for a second time. "I get a lot of official letters from the Ministry, and Ginny often writes to me, but you've never asked me about those before, so I thought it was okay if I kept them to myself."

"No, I'm talking about the ones you got from that Cormac bloke," Sirius exclaimed suddenly, looking a bit more frustrated than he was just a few moments earlier. "Who even _is_ he?"

"Oh, him?" Hermione replied, her heart beating loudly in her chest as the realization hit her with full force. "He was a year above me in Hogwarts. We have a certain history, you know."

"Well, that still doesn't explain why you're getting love letters from him," Sirius practically spat.

"I never said I've been replying to him in the same fashion," Hermione challenged. "He is one persistent git, but no matter what I tell him, we would never have worked. But we're no more than friends – more like acquaintances."

"I really don't like this, though," Sirius narrowed his eyes again. "How can assure me that you won't say yes to him at some point? Clearly he would be a better choice for you than me; I'm just an old man."

"Sirius," Hermione sighed. "We've been through this several times. See this ring on my finger?" She pointed to the ring as she spoke. "If this doesn't prove that I want to be with you, and only you, I don't know what else I can do. I don't care how old you are, even if other people think you're just an old man. If you think I'd let Cormac get between us, maybe you don't know me all that well. I know you'd never admit that you're afraid of me leaving you for somebody else, but I know you are, even though you shouldn't be. You have to trust me on this one, because if you don't do, you can't expect me to trust you in return."

"I just don't like that he's practically confessing his undying love for you in each and every one of his letters," Sirius barked. "Maybe you should rethink your relationship with him," he added in a sarcastic undertone.

"Look, I know what you mean," Hermione explained. "But you're exaggerating. He never said anything about _loving_ me, he's just asked me out on a date a couple of times, which I have always declined. And I really don't want you telling with who I can and can't be friends with. I think we've talked about this before as well."

"I don't want to lose you," Sirius said finally.

"You won't," Hermione promised. "I assure you I'm not cheating on you. So, you assure me you're not cheating either, and we're going to being a-okay. But if you keep getting jealous, it will become a problem. Please, just think about that before we actually get married. I'll be sleeping alone tonight, because I don't want to get into an unnecessary fight with you."

"But…" Sirius started, but was cut off by Hermione again.

"Clearly, you have a problem with Cormac, a problem I don't see, so how about we sleep on this and then discuss it tomorrow?" Hermione grabbed her belongings from the table and left the library quickly.

Once in her room, she took out her quill and parchment, and started writing in rapid fashion.

 _Dear Cormac,_

 _While I appreciate that you're sending me such lovely letters, next time, maybe you should be more subtle about it. I almost had a row with Sirius, and I really don't want to shed light on this… thing we have yet. I know keeping it a secret is excruciating, but I'm just not ready to end things with him yet. Please._

 _Love,_

 _Hermione_


	7. Heal Me With Your Touch

**A/N: So… This is about the closest I'll get to writing smut. I'm honestly afraid right now. And uh… rating gone up, I guess. Warnings: suggestive content and mentions of past rape.**

 **Also, can I just say that I actually had fun with this (and that I've always wanted to write something alike)? I dunno, but as an afterthought, it's a freeing thought that I've written something I haven't before.**

 **Word count: …699**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry:** Flying Assignment #7 - What I want you to do here is write about an obstacle affecting your pairing. It could be at the start, someone unable to forgive and forget or it could be halfway with someone struggling in the already established relationship. A negative impact should be caused but your pairing must get over it! (extra prompt used: (action) a kiss)

* * *

His hands and lips were everywhere. Her face, her shoulders, her waist, her bum…

They were sprawled out on a queen-sized bed in a little motel in Southern Scotland, where Sirius and Hermione were currently spending their Christmas holiday. Just the two of them, away from the Weasley family, away from their friends, completely alone.

He was now peppering kisses down her throat again, while his hand played with the hem of her shirt. Her hands were buried in his hair, pulling him closer, if that was even possible.

He made her feel things she hadn't experienced before; she felt shivers running up and down her spine as he bit down on her shoulder. It wasn't painful; it was more pleasuring than she thought it'd be.

"Hermione," he panted as he lifted himself off of her slightly. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," was all she could muster while she dragged him down onto her again. "I'm sure."

He didn't ask anything more; he just starting roaming all around her body with his hand under her shirt. He was caressing her back in one moment, then smoothing a thumb over her abdomen in the next, all the while he started kissing her feverishly once again.

He edged closer and closer to her already hardened nipple – although it was still covered by the soft fabric of her bra –, but before he reached it, he swiftly pulled her shirt over her head, exposing her upper body before he leaned back onto her.

It all felt so right; it almost made her forget about everything around herself. She wanted to let her instincts take over her, so she slid her hands down from his hair onto his bicep and started wandering too.

It was all perfect, she felt fine, but when he took the initiative and palmed her left breast with one hand, an imagine came flashing into her mind.

 _Another person leaning over her in the same position, although he wore a malicious grin instead of Sirius' trademark smirk. She wanted to scream; she wanted to cry out for help, but she knew no one was coming to help her, so she gritted her teeth and tried to not think of it as the man pushed his hand under her shirt._

She suddenly pushed the man away from her, her breathing still heavy, although it was heavy for another reason now.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Sirius asked with a serious expression, every ounce of playfulness wiped from his face. "Is it the flashbacks again?"

"…Yes," Hermione muttered quietly. "I'm sorry, I just… I don't think I can do this now. I tried to cast it out, but I just can't. It always comes back to me, every single time," she explained as her eyes became clouded with tears. She was trying to fight it back; she was stronger than to cry every time it was mentioned, but somehow, crying always got the better of her.

"Don't apologize," Sirius replied softly, wiping a stray tear away from her face.

"But you wanted this holiday to be perfect," Hermione protested. "And now I'd gone and ruined it. I just…"

"No, it's okay," Sirius placed his hand on her cheek and turned her head so that she could look in his grey eyes properly. "I'm not mad or anything. We've been through this, you can always tell me to stop."

"I don't know why you put up with me, even after everything," Hermione spoke after a few moments of silence. "I can't even bare for you to touch me. I'm not worthy of it… Not after what happened. I'm tainted."

"You're not," insisted Sirius. "You're beautiful, and not even your scars can distort you. If anything, it makes you more real," he once again tried to make Hermione to look him in the eye. "Say, what if I promise you that we'll get over this together? We can go slow, if you want. I can wait, I've got a whole lifetime to wait for you," he added a wink after his last thought.

"You promise?" Hermione asked quietly.

"I do," Sirius smiled softly, then placed an innocent kiss on her forehead. "I'll help you forget."


	8. Sirius and the Pool

**Word count: 473**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry** : Flying assignment #8 - You're trying something new and your pairing should as well! This could be anything from a new food to a new sport but one of your pairing should be showing some nerves and discomfort but in the end, would try it. Whether they enjoyed it or not, is up to you. (extra prompt used: (object) a wardrobe)

* * *

"Don't tell me you have never tried swimming," Hermione argued as she hurled a batch of clothing into a sports bag from the wardrobe she had been digging in.

"No, I haven't," Sirius replied. "I had magic from the moment I was born, remember?"

"I've seen pureblooded wizards who could swim," Hermione retorted and shook her head in disbelief. "My guess is that you were simply too lazy to learn."

"Not true," Sirius shook his head. "My parents deemed swimming unworthy of learning, so even, so I couldn't swim even if I wanted."

"Well, then it is about time you did," Hermione exclaimed in a tone that suggested no place for arguments. "Come on," she grabbed the man's forearm and pulled him into a side-along apparition.

~oOo~

"I can't do this," Sirius whined as Hermione lowered herself into one of the five feet deep pools of the water park they were currently in. "I'm going to drown, and there will be a sign engraved on my tombstone, advertising my shameful death."

"Don't be such a crybaby," Hermione rolled her eyes. "There are five-year-old children swimming in this exact pool; can you see any of them drowning?"

"...No," Sirius answered hastily. "But..."

"No buts, Sirius," Hermione remarked. "You're over forty, for Merlin's sake! When did you plan on learning to swim?"

"I didn't," Sirius pointed out. "I just didn't want to inform you; you looked so delighted when you suggested we visit a water park."

"I appreciate that," Hermione smiled faintly before frowning. "Now, get your lazy bum in the pool; I don't want to spend my whole day disputing over you and your irrational fear of deep water."

"It isn't irrational," Sirius huffed. "I'm just taking the necessary precautions. "

"Oh, come on," Hermione rolled her eyes once again, grabbed hold of Sirius' hand and yanked him forward. He stumbled into the pool after he had lost his balance, and arrived headfirst into the water.

It was only mere moments later that he came back up, his hair sticking to his face and sputtering.

"What was that for?" He asked when he could finally inhale a breath of fresh air.

"If I hadn't tugged you in, you would never have set your foot in here," Hermione shrugged. "So I thought I would give you a bit of encouragement."

"Sometimes I wonder why weren't you sorted into Slytherin," Sirius sighed.

"But you haven't died yet, have you?" Hermione retorted. "I honestly don't see why were you so nervous; personally, I'm enjoying this pool. And now you can finally teach you how to swim. See, it's not that bad, is it?"

"I guess not," Sirius grumbled under his breath.

"You're always so moody when you're proven wrong," Hermione slapped his shoulder playfully, then gave him a peck on the cheek as compensation.

"Come on," she encouraged. "I want to show you the slides."


	9. Figment of Imagination

**A/N: Well, I channelled everything I learned from ASOTM (A Splitting of the Mind – a really good Frerard fic), Donnie Darko and Wikipedia, and this was the result. I'll put an A/N at the bottom as well for those who didn't quite catch what was supposed to happen. And this is also a fic born at a particularly uninteresting Hungarian Literature class. Enjoy.**

 **Word count: 841**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry** : Flying Assignment #9 - For this task, use one of the following illnesses and injuries in your story. (I used a mental illness of my choosing – schizophrenia) (extra prompt used: (dialogue) "I will never let you down.")

 **Ultimate Chocolate Frog Card Club** : (Silver) Honoria Nutcombe – Write a Psychological AU.

* * *

It was the middle of the night. Sirius was clad in his covers, comfortably settled in his bed, however, he just couldn't will himself to sleep. He was gazing silently at his ceiling when he glimpsed a shadow in the corner of his eye.

"Hermione?" he muttered, now looking fully at the girl in the shadows, who was currently standing with her arms crossed, giving Sirius a cold stare. "You… Why are you here?"

"What have I told you about consorting with him?" Hermione raised her eyebrows, ignoring Sirius's words completely. "The last time we spoke, I mean."

"That… That he's going to lead me down a dangerous road," Sirius winced. "And that I'll be better off without him, that is if I follow your lead."

"Exactly," Hermione nodded. "Now I'm wondering why haven't you done what I advised you to do yet. Have I ever given you false advice?"

"…No," Sirius admitted slowly. "No, but I trust him. He's my friend – my only friend – and I don't want to push him away just because you told me to do so."

"Well, how about this, then," Hermione replied, her gaze unusually cold – colder than Sirius had ever seen. "You can go and trust him all you want, and in change, I'll leave you to by yourself for the rest of your life."

"No!" Sirius shouted, eyes widened upon hearing the suggestion. "I mean…Hermione, how am I going to stop Them if you're not here?"

"Well, it's not my problem anymore," Hermione scoffed. "As much as I'd like to help, you'll have to deal with Them alone if you can't trust me."

"But I can't do that!" Sirius shook his head, fear evident in his voice and in his eyes, no matter how much he tried to hide it. Well, so much for Gryffindor courage. He then heard a buzz coming from behind him – from inside the wall – and he instantly scooted closer to the edge of his mattress. "You're the only one They're afraid of."

"You should've thought about that before you invited him over, then," Hermione answered.

"Please, Hermione," Sirius pleaded. "I'll take your advice to the heart from now on, just please, don't let Them get me!"

Pleading was not something Sirius usually did – he had way too much pride to do so, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

"Since you asked so nicely," Hermione sighed, and he buzzing from behind the wall seemed to cease almost instantly.

"Thank you," he mumbled.

"I will never let you down," Hermione smiled softly. "Remember this."

Sirius seemed like he wanted to note something else as well, but before he could have opened his mouth, the door flew open, revealing a very groggy-looking Remus Lupin. who peered inside, stifling a yawn in the process.

"What in merlin's name are you doing, Sirius?" he asked, followed by another yawn. "It's literally 2 AM. Who are you talking to anyway?"

"Uh, I was talking to Hermione," Sirius gestured towards the brunette, who was comfortably nestled in an armchair, holding an Advanced Arithmancy textbook in her hands.

"Hermione?" Remus frowned. "Haven't heard of her yet. Is she your girlfriend or something?"

"Um, no," Sirius began to explain. "Although, you could just talk to her; she's still here, you know," he pointed at the armchair, where the bushy-haired girl was now wildly scribbling down something onto a piece of parchment – probably something interested she had found in her book.

Remus stepped into the room and then cast a glance at the armchair before he hesitantly peered back at Sirius, his expression as confused as it would ever get.

"There's nobody sitting in that chair," he said with slight disbelief in his voice.

Sirius averted his gaze back onto the sofa, where, interestingly enough, no girls were sitting. It was empty, he couldn't see a soul occupying the place.

"Interesting," he mumbled. "I'm fairly sure she was here not a minute ago."

"Are you sure you weren't just hallucinating?" Remus asked. "I mean, you look pretty tired to me; it could've been your imagination playing a game with you."

"No, no, she turns up here almost every day, and anyway, she looks way too real to be just… A figment of my imagination," Sirius shook his head. "I guess she just doesn't like strangers. Although I do wonder how can she hide so fast."

"You shouldn't worry about it," Remus said, even though his voice was still a little bit uncertain. "Just go to sleep and tomorrow you'll be better."

Sirius sighed. "Okay. Sleep well, Moony."

"You too, Padfoot," Remus gave him a smile and waved as he stepped out of the bedroom, the door soon clicking behind him. Sirius then turned back to look at the armchair, where, not much to his surprise, Hermione was sitting again, flipping through the pages of the book she was holding – though it wasn't Arithmancy, it was Transfigurations this time.

"I told you he was not to be trusted," she noted absentmindedly, closing her book with a light thud.

* * *

 **A/N: So, for those who are wondering what the heck is going on. Sirius has schizophrenia, which means that he has these hallucinations, which seem like actual entities that he can converse with, and Hermione is one of these hallucinations. The 'Them' part is shamelessly based on ASOTM, which is technically another hallucination, which causes Sirius to have severe paranoia about this 'Them', which (who?) are somehow a threat to him. Well, at least how he perceives it. And he believes that Hermione is the only one who can save him from 'Them', thus he sticks with her, even when his heart tells him otherwise – but it's not like Hermione could walk away from him; she's just a hallucination, right?**

 **Well, I hope that clears this up, and I hope you still somehow managed to enjoy :)**


	10. Playing Mafia

**A/N: A little heads up again, for those who aren't familiar with the Mafia genre. Basically, in this game, there are two or three factions (Town, Mafia and Neutrals), and their goal is to annihilate the other by 'killing' nightly and 'lynching' daily. Day and night phases are usually a few minutes, depending on the game mode. Mafia knows each other, Town doesn't, Mafia has less members, Town has more. Everybody has a special role; they have abilities which they can use. Whichever faction stays alive, wins. All of this is inspired by 1. Town of Salem, 2. Forum Mafia on the ToS forums. Enjoy.**

 **Word count: 577**

 **Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry** : Flying Assignment #9 - It could be simple, it could be relationship changing, but deceit must be the main aspect of your relationship. (extra prompt used: (dialogue) "They haven't seen the best of us yet.")

* * *

"You were actually mafia?" Sirius frowned, throwing his cards down the table, a look of mild shock etched onto his face. "How? You had both me and Harry convinced that you were a good guy; nobody had raised any suspicions about you, and you made all of us believe that Ginny killed half of the players, while, in fact, it was you all along. How in Merlin's name can you do that?"

"Because, Sirius," Hermione explained, "this is a game of deception. You are meant to lie if you're on the 'bad' side, or if your alignment is neutral according to your role card. Which means, since I was mafia – a member of the 'bad guys gang' – I was supposed to tell everyone a plausible lie, which I did, because it was my intent to win. I can't blame myself for not warning you not to believe every word I say; that's not what this game is about."

"I trusted you!" Sirius exclaimed, fake mockery glinting in his stormy grey eyes. "And you betrayed me. You have to redeem yourself now."

Instead of a reply, Hermione let out a rather exasperated sigh before placing her cards right beside Sirius's. "Me? Say, how do you think I should fulfil this whole redeeming objective?"

"I have a few ideas," the man smirked, to which the brunette simply rolled her eyes. "Would you like to hear about them?"

"Not necessarily," Hermione said. "Although, now that you mention it, on the contrary, I believe that you should be the one to make amends since you've lost the game."

Sirius seemed to be deep in thought for a brief period of time before speaking again. "How about we don't compensate at all and let it slide? After all, we're even. You've lied to me, and I played horrendously – according to you. I'll admit to being wary of what you may have in store for me."

"You act like such a sissy sometimes," Hermione noted with a sly smile. "Now, are you up for another round? Harry and Ginny are two floors above us, and we can still call back everybody else to play again."

"Only if I get to be mafia with you," came the answer from Sirius.

The brunette witch chuckled. "If I will be mafia, that is."

"They haven't seen the best of us yet," Sirius winked, gathering the cards in his hands from across the battered oak table. "I'd rather be a bad guy with you than with anyone else."

"I wouldn't be a bad guy with you; you're a terrible liar," Hermione noted offhandedly.

Sirius pursed his lips and peered at the girl with slight scepticism. "Unlike you."

"I'm not a good liar; I simply have a lot of experience in this game," Hermione objected. "Plus, your facial expressions are way too telling for your own good."

"You know me all too well."

"That I do," the girl nodded. "However, you have to admit. You're like an open book; it's not hard to read you like one."

"That doesn't give you the right to lie to my face," Sirius commented, bitterness seeping into his voice.

"This is just a game, Sirius," Hermione said. "Now you make me wonder what would happen if I deliberately deceived you about a matter of more significance."

"Say, how about that next party?" Sirius asked suddenly, not even trying to hide the fact that he was steering the conversation away.

Hermione just giggled again.


End file.
